Couples Therapy Retreats
Your Personalized Marriage Retreat in California
When you are ready to fix your relationship, when you’re motivated to change. When you just can’t stand the distance between you anymore, help can’t come fast enough.
You might have looked into a couples therapy retreat in California or couples therapy near you. Some good couples therapists near you might have long waitlists or only be able to see you once every 6 weeks. This is not enough for you to see the changes you want to see in your relationship! Or maybe the couples therapists near you only focus on couples in crisis and you’re not exactly in that place. You just want to feel like you and your partner are best friends again. But you need more than a nice vacation. At Inland Empire Couples Counseling, we have a solution for you! Couples therapy retreats are a combination of a relationship retreat and couple’s counseling, and allow you to dig deep and make real change quickly. With two locations in Riverside County, our couples therapy retreats are easily accessible for a two-day getaway from anywhere in Southern California.
What is a couples therapy retreat?
Your couples therapy retreat is about improving your relationship and removing the blocks that keep you and your partner disconnected and dissatisfied. In just two days, our therapists are able to accomplish what might otherwise take weeks or months of couples therapy. Whether something is off in your friendship, partnership, or romantic relationship, we will help identify what’s missing, solve some problems, and send you home with concrete things you can do to keep your relationship strong and deeply connected.
You come to our couples counseling office in Riverside CA or our marriage therapy office in Murrieta CA for two days of reconnecting, learning new skills, and intentionally creating space for your love to grow and deepen. We recommend combining your couple’s therapy intensive session with a night at a hotel to make it a real relationship get-away.
Click here to learn more about what you can expect during the retreat.
Is a marriage retreat in California right for us?
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You can’t find time for your Relationship
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Couples Counseling is Not Enough
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Your Relationship is Stale and Routine
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Your Want to Prevent Divorce
You find that life just keeps getting in the way of your relationship: you and your partner are busy, lots of people depend on you. Despite your best intentions, you jobs, kids, friends, family, and hobbies fill up all your available time and there’s just nothing left for your relationship
You’ve done couples counseling in the past and find the 45-50 minute sessions just aren’t long enough for you to get to what really needs to change in your relationship
Your relationship has become stale and routine. You’re not miserable. You’re not in crisis. You still like each other okay but don’t really enjoy your time together. It seems there is a lot you’re not talking about but when you’re together you can’t seem to find anything to talk about.
You want to prevent divorce. You really don’t want to get divorced. You’re not in crisis but you both can see that if things don’t change between you, you will want to get divorced in a few years. An intentional break in your old patterns through a couples therapy retreat can help you change the course of your whole relationship!
What’s included in our couples therapy retreat?
A completely personalized experience: a marriage retreat that’s just for you!
30 minute phone or online session per individual (or 1 hour together) prior to the intensive to help your couples therapist(s) get to know your concerns and ensure the retreat is going to help you
The Gottman Connect Relationship Checkup to learn about your relationship strengths and challenges
80 minute preparation session prior to the intensive where your couples therapist(s) will help you get clear on your priorities for your retreat and review your Gottman Connect questionnaire results
Day 1: Four hours with your therapist(s). This is typically divided into two 2-hour sessions with a lunch break between
Activity to help you connect and/or relax in the evening of Day 1
Day 2: Four hours with your therapist(s). Usually two 2-hour sessions with a lunch break, though this can be modified according to your specific needs and preferences
One more hour with your therapist in the 1-2 weeks following your retreat. This could be another couples session or a 30 minute one-on-one session per individual in the week after the intensive to help you absorb all you experienced and/or troubleshoot any problems
A plan for the two of you to take home after the retreat to help you stay on track and implement the changes you’ve made
Beverages, snacks, and any materials needed
Any of the above can be modified to meet your unique needs
Click here to learn more about what you can expect during the retreat.
Wow! That’s a lot.
It is. And you are so worth it. With one of our couples therapy retreats, you get in two days what would take 6 weeks to accomplish in regular weekly sessions! That’s 5 extended couples therapy sessions, the pre-retreat mini sessions, your activity, the Gottman Connect Relationship Checkup results, AND the invaluable experience of setting aside time to invest in one of the most important relationships of your life.
What does a couples therapy retreat cost?
Total cost for the couples therapy retreat: $3500
Cost for two therapists to work on your relationship during your retreat: $5000
Contact us to discuss how scheduling an intensive can help you make quick but lasting changes in your relationship.
FAQs for a Couples Therapy Retreat in California
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Most of our couples therapy retreats happen at our office in Murrieta California. We also have an office that can accommodate couples therapy retreats in Riverside California.
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The Ontario (ONT) airport is the closest major airport. Without traffic, it’s a 50 minute drive to our offices in Murrieta.
The John Wayne Airport (SNA) is 1 hour and 10 minutes from our offices in Murrieta.
Palm Springs (PSP) and San Diego (SAN) Airports are each 1 hour and 30 minutes drive from our office in Murrieta.
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Unfortunately, Southern California does not have great public transit options. You would need to rent a car or use a ride share to get to our Murrieta office.
Our Riverside office is situation between two MetroLink stops. So if you love public transit and would like to use that option, you could request to have your retreat at the Riverside office.
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When you book your retreat, we will send you a guide with recommended hotels in the area. You may also decide to book a vacation rental if that suits you.
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Absolutely! We are here to help care for your needs and we would love to book your hotel room for you. Inquire about current pricing when you do your consultation call.
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This is a great question! And it might depend on the state of your relationship.
If the focus of your retreat is to deepen connection, rekindle romance, or come back to each other after stressful life events, extending your stay in California is a great idea. You could spend a few days exploring Temecula wine country, enjoying a spa in Palm Springs, hitting some theme parks, or relaxing on the beach.
If you are booking a retreat to help recover from infidelity or to help you decide whether you want to stay married to not, you might not find it relaxing and rejuvenating to spend extra time together. You two might be better served by doing your couples therapy retreat and then scheduling a solo day to reflect, relax, and take care of yourselves.
Our therapists will be happy to talk through the options with you and make a recommendation based on your situation.
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A couples therapy retreat is intensive, personal, and focuses on the deep work needed to repair old wounds, turn around a troubled relationship, and reestablish meaningful connection. Marriage retreats are often done in groups and have a more educational, relationship enrichment focus.
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Yes. At Inland Empire Couples Counseling a couples therapy intensive and couples therapy retreat are the same thing.
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Couples therapy retreats are ideal for certain types of relationship problems and certain types of couples.
Couples therapy retreats help with:
feeling stale or stuck, like roommates
complicated histories or extended family dynamics (issues with in-laws or blended families)
processing effects of infidelity
sexual concerns or effects of past trauma
preventing divorce
deciding whether to stay together or separate
any problem where you’ve tried weekly therapy sessions and you’re not making progress
busy couples who don’t have time for weekly therapy
couples who simply prefer to work intensely over a short period to a little bit week by week
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In the intensive format of a retreat, we can get deeper into the root causes of problems in the relationship. We can take our time to really understand what’s happening so that our solutions can be more targeted and effective. You can take your time to connect with each other, explain yourselves, and to really listen to one another. In weekly therapy sessions, a lot of time is spent starting the session, catching up, and then ending and getting ready for next time. A 50 minute therapy session may only have 30-35 minutes of actual therapy time. For some situations and some couples, this is great; they need to take things in small chunks. And other couples find the weekly format frustrating and would be better served by a couples therapy retreat.
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Not at all. We have worked with couples who are in couples therapy already and come to us for specific help with a particularly difficult issue. And many of the couples who join us for a retreat aren’t in couples therapy. We can work with you either way. And we’re happy to collaborate and consult with your therapist if you already have one.
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Yes, if this is what you and your partner both want and are willing to work for it. Couples therapists aren’t mystical; just sitting in our presence won’t save your relationship. And we can’t live your lives for you, doing all the hard work of relationship change and repair. We can walk beside you, coaching you, teaching you, and helping you heal old hurts so that you and your partner can find your way back to each other. If you want to do the work to save your relationship, a couples therapy retreat can help jumpstart that progress.
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Yes. We are bound by laws and professional ethics codes to keep our relationship with you confidential. Except in legally mandated situations that have to do with safety (reporting child abuse, for example). we can’t even confirm that we know you without your written permission. Our couples therapy retreats include a relationship enriching activity, usually with an outside vendor. During the planning phase of the retreat, we will discuss the specifics of how we book those activities while maintaining your confidentiality.
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We recommend booking your couples therapy retreat 4-8 weeks in advance. A rush fee may apply to retreats booked less than 2 weeks in advance. Booking dates are subject to therapist availability, and we do our best to accommodate your busy schedules.
Read more about our Marriage Retreats in California
Quality information you can trust from relationship experts!